He announced Tuesday in a post that he was shutting the site down and focusing on a new Kansas gadfly project Kansas Watchdog.

The site describes itself as “a project of the Flint Hills Center for Public Policy and the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, is part of a nationwide effort to give citizens and their elected representatives solid, factual reporting on issues that matter.”

“For the last five years as the Kansas Meadowlark I’ve attempted to publish political money stories, non-profit stories, and other information often ignored by the mainstream press,” Glynn wrote in his final post on the site.

Glynn is also listed on the staff at the North Dakota-based Franklin Center, which describes its focus as “providing journalistic training, technical support and information resources to state-based non-profit organizations and reporters. The Franklin Center hopes that its comprehensive assistance can aid in the 4th Estate’s ability to achieve transparency in government at the local, state and federal levels.”

For the new endeavor, he is pairing up with Paul Soutar, investigative reporter for the Flint Hills Center. Soutar is a former photo and graphics editor for the Wichita Eagle.

Similar to Kansas Meadowlark, the Kansas Watchdog site says it plans to focus “on government waste and inefficiency, political corruption and anything that goes against free-market principles and the core values of the U.S. and Kansas constitutions.”

For more immediate coverage, the site is also on Twitter @KansasWatchdog.

TOPEKA – Independence Republican Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt announced in an e-mail Wednesday that he plans to run for attorney general against incumbent Steve Six, a Democrat.

Schmidt was first elected to the Kansas Senate in 2000. Prior to that, he was a Kansas assistant attorney general and special counsel to Gov. Bill Graves.

Below is the announcement from Schmidt’s campaign:

INDEPENDENCE – (September 16, 2009) — Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt (R-Independence) today announced he will be a candidate for attorney general in 2010 and released the following statement:

“Over the past year, my family and I have considered how I could make the greatest contribution to our state and whether I would be a candidate for public office in 2010. This is an intensely personal decision. In July, I appointed a campaign treasurer to explore a possible statewide candidacy and began traveling the state and listening to Kansans. I am grateful to have been encouraged by so many people to seek statewide office.

“Earlier this month, I picked up my hometown newspaper and learned that local law enforcement officers took down a meth lab only about a mile from my home in Independence. An armed fugitive was loose, perhaps somewhere in my town, perhaps somewhere in my quiet neighborhood, perhaps in a yard where my children and their friends play.

“Life’s events sometimes have a way of opening our eyes to the obvious. The principal focus of my service in the Senate has been making Kansas a safer and more secure place to live, work and raise a family. This work is not done and I remain committed to it. This is where I can make the greatest difference for our state over the next four years.

“Therefore, I have decided to become a candidate for Kansas attorney general. I am dedicated to being a strong voice for the safety and security of Kansans. I am sincerely grateful to the many friends across the state whose advice and counsel have helped me reach this decision.”

Senator Schmidt has been a longtime leader on public safety issues and currently serves as vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His work to improve public safety and security includes:

• He was the chief sponsor of the Sheriff Matt Samuels Chemical Control Act, which sharply reduced methamphetamine production in Kansas. He received the Friend of Law Enforcement Award from the Kansas Sheriff’s Association for this leadership. • Senator Schmidt also was the chief Senate sponsor of Jessica’s Law, which imposes life prison terms on sex offenders who prey on children. • After the September 11 attacks, he wrote the law making endangering the food supply a crime, a step that brought Kansas law enforcement agencies into discussions about protecting Kansas agriculture. • He wrote the law creating the crime of aggravated child endangerment and a separate measure increasing penalties on con artists who prey on senior citizens or disabled Kansans. • Senator Schmidt wrote the law establishing an independent office of inspector general to seek out fraud and abuse in the Kansas Medicaid program. • He wrote the law that puts repeat burglars and thieves behind bars instead of back on the streets on probation.

Before being elected to the Senate, Schmidt served as an assistant attorney general for Kansas, as general counsel to a United States Senator, and as special counsel to Kansas Governor Bill Graves. He has worked as a private attorney, including service as city prosecutor for Independence.

A fifth-generation Kansan, Senator Schmidt earned his law degree from Georgetown University. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and holds a master’s degree in international politics from Leicester University in the United Kingdom. He currently is pursuing an advanced degree in law at the University of Kansas School of Law.

The two men made the announcement Thursday at the Kansas GOP headquarters in Topeka.

“Ron Thornburgh is a model public servant – hard working, effective, principled and honest” Brownback said.

Thornburgh, who had previously contemplated running for governor himself said he and Brownback “share the same priorities… it is time we reinvest in the state of Kansas.”

The four-time secretary of state admitted that working on Brownback’s campaign was not the opportunity he initially anticipated but “I’m OK with that,” he said.

Brownback praised Thornburgh saying his joining the campaign would help unite the GOP across the state.

Both Thornburgh and Brownback said any discussion on whether the secretary of state might later join the campaign as a running mate were premature.

Thornburgh joins John Petersen of Overland Park, the former finance chair for Gov. Bill Graves; Wichita City Councilwoman Sue Schlapp and Garden City Commissioner Reynaldo Mesa as co-chars on the statewide campaign.

“People can get the instructions and everything else off our website, we are only printing the (tax) forms,” Kansas Secretary of Revenue Joan Wagnon told the House Appropriations Committee on Monday.

In prior years, the printed booklets of the instructions were available at Post Offices, libraries and other public areas. The department is also going to sell the tax forms to accountants.

People who have been filing via mail last year will get a printed form in the mail. Those that file taxes for a living will have to pay for the forms, she said.

The moves are intended to encourage people to move online when filing taxes, she said.

“We need to condition the public to quit sending us so much paper,” Wagnon said.

By saving money on printing and postage she hope to divert more money to collector positions.

The move comes the day after fiscal year 2010 began and includes a 2 percent reduction to general state aid for kindergarten through 12th grade. Higher education also saw another 2 percent, or $15 million taken from its budget.

“There is no way to spin this that this is not going to create pain for them,” said Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat.

The state budget has already been cut three times since January, and this time departments who had watched their money disappear previously – such as the Department of Corrections – were left untouched.

While Parkinson’s moves eliminated a further $90.6 million, he leaned on more money coming from the federal government, delayed projects and other money sources to add $69.3 million back into the budget. The proposal does not include any tax increases or delay anticipated tax decreases.

Included in that portion of the proposal is:

• $30 million in delayed road maintenance programs from the Department of Transportation

• $2.8 million taken from the Health Care Stabilization Fund,

• $4.15 million no longer needed to make Cessna bond payments.

The governor said he hoped the cuts would be enough to keep the budget in the black.

On Monday, Parkinson also said he plans to ask the State Finance Council to allow the state to borrow $700 million from its self to cover payments due in July.

Other cuts to the budget include:

• 2 percent, or $641,512, reduction to Department of Health & Environment

• 2 percent, or $132,477, cut to the School for the Blind

• 2 percent, or $196,395, cut to the School for the Deaf

• Eliminating $50,000 in grants for the Arts Commission.

Parkinson also gave his office, the lieutenant governor’s office and the Attorney General’s office 2 percent cuts totaling almost $250,000. He also asked Legislative Agencies, which include research, post audit and the Legislature to cut $540,000.

For more, read Friday’s Wichita Eagle.

“Declaring these counties agricultural disasters will allow farmers to apply for emergency loans administered by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. These loans can help Kansas farms recover from impact that severe weather has had on crops,” wrote Gov. Mark Parkinson said.

Parkinson, a Democrat, asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to declare the three counties agricultural disaster areas due to excessive rain, flooding, high winds and a freeze that occurred between late March and the end of May.

The increase, approved Thursday by the Board of Regents along with tuition jumps for all state universities, is higher than the 6 percent WSU had proposed in May.

With the augmentation, a full-time in-state WSU student will pay $2,248.50 per semester for classes. The automatic scholarship, funded by federal stimuli money, will apply only to in-state students, said WSU President Donald Beggs.

University of Kansas students will pay $3,283.50 for a semester’s tuition, up 6 percent from the current $3,097.50.

KU students enrolling in the school’s compact program which guarantees the same tuition rate over four year will increase to 7 percent to $3,679.50 up from the current $3,438.75

Kansas State University tuition will increase 3.9 percent to $3,093, up from $2,977.05.

Emporia State University has a small raise to $1,713 up 4 percent from this years $1,647 rate.

Pittsburgh State University students will pay $1,826, up 6.8 percent from $1,710.

Fort Hays State University tuition will jump 7.5 percent to $1,473, up from the current $1,370.25 per semester.

Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, reappointed Tony Madrigal and appointed Vernell Jackson and Tom Winters to the board.

The board manages property and funds the university receives through donations and other means.

Our universities and colleges greatly contribute to the prosperity of Kansas,” Parkinson said. “Administering the resources provided to Wichita State University is crucial to the success of the university, its students and the entire state. I am confident in the board’s abilities and grateful for their dedication.”

Jackson retired more than a year ago as a senior vice president of Administration for Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. He graduated cum laude from WSU with a bachelor’s degree and holds a master’s degree in business management. Jackson is active in the Wichita community as a member of the YMCA Wichita Black Achievers Program and serves on the boards of directors for Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Wichita Community Foundation.

Winters is a former Sedgwick County Commissioner and has served on several boards, including the Wichita Area Technical College Advisory Board, the Workforce Alliance Board and the Information Network of Kansas Board.

In the post Parkinson, a Democrat, said he decided to start blogging when he became governor at the end of April “to provide you a glimpse of what it is like to serve as Governor and to give insight into what happens in our office every day.”

The blog comes up with the governor’s website.

In the mostly biographical initial offer Parkinson promised he’d be the one writing the posts, “this isn’t something that a staffer is writing to try to make me look good.”

He also promised he, and other posters, would try not to be boring or politically correct and “we’ll try not to use political speak (lots of words that say nothing, but sound good).”

Tuesday, Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced the grants, ranging from $17,872 to $453,517, to 39 clinics through out Kansas.

“The services these clinics provide are critically important, making available needed health care services for families without health insurance or those who cannot afford the high cost of care,” said KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby.

In 2008, nearly 180,000 Kansans received health care at a state-funded primary care clinic, the department said in the release. Nearly 60 percent of these patients were uninsured, and over 65 percent were in households that earn less than the federal poverty level.

Area clinics receiving grants were:

• Center for Health and Wellness, Inc. $105,00 for primary care, $15,000 for prescription assistance

• E.C. Tyree Health and Dental Clinic, $80,000 for primary care

• Good Samaritan Clinic, $88,400 for primary care, $12,000 for prescription assistance

• GraceMed Health Clinic, Inc., $350,000 for primary care, $40,000 for prescription assistance

• Guadalupe Clinic, $80,000 for primary care, $20,000 for prescription assistance

• Health Options for Kansas Communities, $50,000 for primary care, $12,000 for prescription assistance

• Hunter Health Clinic, $320,000 for primary care, $40,000 for prescription assistance.

For more, read Wednesday’s Wichita Eagle.